Now, If I understand it correctly, you can go to that last link, download the RAW file, edit it as you see fit, and repost. Let me know if there is any problems in doing so. Looking forward to seeing what you can come up with.

Picture taken into P/Shop and played with Topaz/Impression filters. Masked and brought back details in face and hands. Hope you don't mind.Had to reduce your picture by 50% as it refused to reload your original size...No, I've got no idea why. Maybe shagged out from the long distance it has to travel?Doesn't occur on other sites.Kind regards;ed

First part was to normalize the image in Camera Raw (white bal, color and contrast) on import into PS. Once in PS the first thing I did was remove those annoying branches around her and cleaned up the hair. I then shifted the background exposure down a couple stops so it's not so washed out. I then brightened up on her face an upper body area by masking out the exposure with a soft brush. Then a little selective dodge and burn to define the face and give some dimension. I thought of dodging in some highlights in the sweater but I opted out as I thought it pulled the view away from her face. Once I was happy with how she looked I turned my attention to the background. As it was a dreary day I thought I'd enhance the misty, foggy look. A combination of curve adjustment and a reduction in saturation while keeping her masked off did the trick. The final step was to add a bit of sharpening with the old high pass trick.

Thanks Onslow, Ed, and Duck.I'm glad to see that it is working. I find it fun and interesting to see that each person took a different approach and look on this. It may be a lot of fun to continue doing these.

About photoMentoris

The founding principles of photoMENTORIS is to have a place where professional and enthusiast photographers could come and meet in order to teach, share and learn from each other. It is our goal to foster this principle in an atmosphere that encourages creativity and exploration and promotes the advancement of our art through peer mentoring and supportive critique, while having fun along the way.